The Bears appear to be playing Indiana and Illinois against each other as they attempt to get state taxpayers’ help in building a new stadium. And today the Bears appear to be heading toward Indiana.
After the team and the governor of Indiana both put out statements saying they’re making progress on an agreement to build a stadium, the Illinois governor’s office put out a statement saying that was news to Illinois.
Matt Hill, a spokesman for Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, wrote on social media that as recently as yesterday, the Bears were representing to Illinois that things were heading in the right direction to pass a bill in the Illinois General Assembly that would keep the team in the state.
“Illinois was ready to move this bill forward,” Hill wrote. “After a productive three hour meeting yesterday, the Bears leaders requested the ILGA pause the hearing to make further tweaks to the bill. This morning, we were surprised to see a statement lauding Indiana and ignoring Illinois.”
The Bears have attempted to get taxpayer support to remain in Illinois, either with a new stadium at the same site as Soldier Field, or in the suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois, about 30 miles away. The proposed stadium site in Hammond, Indiana, is about 20 miles away.
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The Bears have filled their vacancy at assistant General Manager with an internal promotion.
Chicago announced on Thursday that Jeff King has been elevated to the role.
King has been working his way up the Bears personnel department since joining the club as a scouting intern in 2015.
“We congratulate Jeff on his elevation within our football operations department,” General Manager Ryan Poles said in a statement released by the team. “Jeff has earned this promotion through his commitment to our team and his excellence within our operation, as well as the positive impact that he has created throughout our organization. We look forward to Jeff’s continued leadership and contributions as we work toward building a sustained winner.”
King was a Panthers fifth-round pick in 2006 and played 108 games with 84 starts for Carolina and Arizona through the 2012 season. He caught 156 career passes for 1,323 yards with 12 touchdowns.
King spent the last two seasons as Chicago’s senior director of player personnel.
“I’m super lucky,” King said in a statement released by the team. “I’ve been here 12 years. That doesn’t happen. When I walked in here 12 years ago as an intern, I didn’t think it would go this far, but I’ve been very lucky and appreciative of this organization because it is special.
“I am honored to be able to continue representing the Chicago Bears organization, and I am thankful and appreciative to George H. McCaskey, the McCaskey family, Kevin Warren and Ryan Poles for their trust and belief in me. This is a special organization. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to grow and develop here, starting as an intern, and I look forward to continuing to help build our team as we work toward our collective pursuit of sustained excellence.”
King replaces Ian Cunningham, who departed the franchise to become Atlanta’s General Manager in January.
The Chicago Bears are continuing to make noises about moving to Indiana.
Indiana Senate Bill 27, which would provide for a state-owned stadium that the Bears would play in, has strong support from the governor and state legislature, and the Bears released a statement today saying it’s a big step in the direction of moving out of Illinois.
“The passage of SB 27 would mark the most meaningful step forward in our stadium planning efforts to date,” the Bears’ statement said. “We are committed to finishing the remaining site-specific necessary due diligence to support our vision to build a world-class stadium near the Wolf Lake area in Hammond, Indiana. We appreciate the leadership shown by Governor Braun, Speaker Huston, Senator Mishler and members of the Indiana General Assembly in establishing this critical framework and path forward to deliver a premier venue for all of Chicagoland and a destination for Bears fans and visitors from across the globe. We value our partnership and look forward to continuing to build our working relationship together.”
Indiana Governor Mike Braun wrote on social media on Thursday morning that his state will continue to work on getting the Bears.
“Indiana is open for business, and our pro-growth environment continues to attract major opportunities like this partnership with the Chicago Bears,” Braun wrote. “We’ve identified a promising site near Wolf Lake in Hammond and established a broad framework for negotiating a final deal. If approved, the proposed amendment to Senate Bill 27 puts forward the essential framework to complete this agreement, contingent upon site due diligence proceeding smoothly. The State of Indiana moves at the speed of business, and we’ve demonstrated that through our quick coordination between state agencies, local government, and the legislature to set the stage for a huge win for all Hoosiers. We have built a strong relationship with the Bears organization that will serve as the foundation for a public-private partnership, leading to the construction of a world-class stadium and a win for taxpayers.”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has been less enthusiastic about using taxpayer dollars to help the Bears with a new stadium in Illinois.
One of the biggest stories of the offseason will be the future of Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby. And one of the most obvious potential trade destinations, if the Raiders move him, is the Bears.
Crosby has remained largely quiet at the center of the storm of speculation, fueled by comments from folks like Jay Glazer, who said during Super Bowl week that Crosby is “done” with the Raiders.
A new interview of Bears quarterback Caleb Williams on Crosby’s podcast is making waves.
The quote that has drawn the most attention is this one, from Crosby to Williams at the tail end of the 68-minute episode: “Just to be open and honest, bro, like we talked about earlier, but respect at a different level, bro. You’re one of those guys, for sure, and you’re just getting started. I don’t even know you understand yet how good you can be, and that’s the scariest part. You know what I mean? Just keep that mindset, keep doing what you’re doing. You know we’re locked in forever. So keep doing your thing, bro. You need me, hit me at any time. It goes vice versa.”
The Raiders have shown no inclination to trade Crosby. If Crosby truly has no intention to play for the Raiders, their choices could be to trade him or have him essentially retire.
And there’s a pipeline that was used nearly eight years ago, when the Raiders sent disgruntled defensive end Khalil Mack to the Bears for a package headlined by two first-round picks.
Could it happen again? First, the Raiders have to decide to trade Crosby. If they do, the Bears make plenty of sense.
There was word earlier this month that the Bears would promote Press Taylor to offensive coordinator and the team made the move official on Wednesday.
Taylor joined the Bears last year as their pass game coordinator and will replace Declan Doyle after Doyle moved on to run the offense for the Ravens. Taylor was previously the offensive coordinator for the Jaguars and he has also worked for the Colts and Eagles.
The Bears also confirmed that Eric Studesville will be joining Ben Johnson’s staff as their running backs coach.
In addition to those moves, the Bears announced that they have hired Will Lawing as an offensive analyst and Isaiah Ford as an offensive quality control coach.
Success has consequences.
For a team that vaults from worst to first, it means a tougher schedule the next season. For the fans, it may mean more money to see the team play.
In Chicago, it will.
Via Sean Hammond of the Chicago Tribune, season tickets at Soldier Field will increase by 13.5 percent, on average, in 2026. The changes were communicated to season-ticket holders on Tuesday in a letter from Bears CEO Kevin Warren.
Warren explained that the increases resulted from “detailed analysis and market research.”
Of course, winning isn’t the only factor. Last year, season-ticket prices increased by 10 percent on average, despite the Bears finishing last in the NFC North in 2024.
Here’s the reality, as it relates to the shift from the illegal practice of ticket “scalping” to the burgeoning industry of ticket “reselling.” The teams know what the secondary market is for their tickets. If fans will pay a significant premium over face value to go to the games, it makes sense to increase the face value accordingly.
And Bears fans will show up, no matter what. A day-after-Christmas night game in 2024 toward the end of a lost season nevertheless resulted in a full stadium for a game against the Seahawks.
The Bears are about $5 million over the 2026 salary cap, and they could save about $7 million in cap space by cutting running back D’Andre Swift. That means his place on the roster this year is not safe.
But Swift hopes he’ll be a Bear this season.
“I have no idea, but hopefully I did enough for them to want me back because I know I don’t want to go anywhere else,” Swift told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I hope it plays itself out that way. I love the city, I love the coaching staff and the men that I work with. That’s out of my control, but if I had it my way, I’d be back. I don’t want to play nowhere else.”
The Bears got a good season from rookie backup running back Kyle Monangai in 2025, which could lead them to decide to make Monangai the starter in 2026 and let Swift go. But Swift thinks if anything, he could have an even bigger role next year.
“I can do more,” Swift said. “I wish I would’ve been able to contribute a little more in the passing game. We’ve got so many pass-catchers on the field, so whenever it does come up, I try to make something happen with it, but I do know I could do more.”
Swift may do more this year — in Chicago, or elsewhere.
The Bills have announced their coaching staff under new head coach Joe Brady and it notably includes a former head coach.
Buffalo has hired former Panthers, Broncos, and Bears head coach John Fox as senior assistant coach.
Fox, 71, led the Panthers to an NFC Championship in 2003 and the Broncos to an AFC Championship in 2013. He was last with the Lions in 2023 as senior defensive assistant.
Additionally, Buffalo announced Rob Boras has been promoted to run game coordinator/tight ends coach, Joe Danna has been promoted to secondary coach, D.J. Magnus has been promoted to assistant receivers coach, Jason Rebrovich has been promoted to senior defensive assistant, Kyle Shurmur has been promoted to assistant QBs coach, and Alvin Vaughn has been promoted to defensive assistant.
Several coachers remain from the previous staff under head coach Sean McDermott: assistant offensive line coach Austin Gund, pass game specialist/game management coach Mark Lubick, running backs coach Kelly Skipper, assistant special teams coach Turner West, and offensive assistant/fellowship coach Milli Wilson.
The club has also hired Terrance Jamison as defensive line coach, John Egorugwu as inside linebackers coach, Bobby April III as outside linebackers coach, Jay Valai as cornerbacks coach, Craig Robertson as defensive quality control coach, Pat Meyer as offensive line coach, Bo Hardegree as quarterbacks coach, and Drew Terrell as receivers’ coach.
Buffalo previously announced Pete Carmichael will be the team’s offensive coordinator, Jim Leonhard is defensive coordinator, and Jeff Rodgers is special teams coordinator.
The Seahawks, if the NFL concocts its schedule in the usual way, will open the 2026 season with a home game on Thursday, September 10. And with both the 49ers and Rams reportedly set to play Week 1 in Melbourne, two viable options to get the short straw in Seattle will be out of the mix.
But there are still plenty of good matchups, given a 2026 home schedule for the Seahawks that is chock full of competitive teams.
Beyond the NFC West rivals, the Seahawks will host the Chiefs, Chargers, Bears, Cowboys, Giants, and Patriots. Every one of those games has appeal.
The Chargers and Giants would introduce the wrinkle of Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald squaring off against one of his former bosses, Jim and John Harbaugh. The Chiefs have the Patrick Mahomes (and maybe Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift) angle. The Cowboys are always a major draw. The Bears will be one of the “hot” teams for 2026.
And while a Super Bowl rematch may not have much sizzle given what happened on Sunday, it would still be a Super Bowl rematch.
Even a game against the Cardinals could be compelling, since they have a new coach and presumably will have a new quarterback. (Seattle and Arizona played an overtime game in Week 4 of the 2025 season.)
It nevertheless remains possible that Whoever vs. Seahawks won’t be the first game of the season. 49ers-Rams may need to be played before the opening Thursday in order to reduce the significant travel/jet-lag burden.
Still, if the existing approach holds, it’ll be Seattle against someone as they hang their latest banner on the first Thursday night of the season. One of the many decisions the NFL will need to make about the 2026 schedule will entail selecting the opponent for what should be a fairly significant game.
As the Bears look for a new home, Indiana isn’t the only non-Illinois state that has interest.
Via David Rumsey of Front Office Sports, Iowa wants in.
Seven Iowa state senators have submitted a bill that would modify the “Major Economic Growth Attraction” program to “include incentivizing the building of a professional sports stadium by a National Football League franchise in the state.”
In a statement, state senator Kerry Gruenhagen said the bill was filed to “show a team in our neighboring state that we are ready for them if their home state doesn’t want them.”
And while a move across the Indiana state line would still keep the Bears in the greater Chicago area, Iowa would be a significantly longer trek. Davenport, on the Iowa-Illinois border, is 175 miles from Chicago. Des Moines, the largest city in Iowa, is 334 miles away.
So while the Iowa senator may be serious about their interest, it doesn’t feel like a serious proposal.
But, hey, with three “I” states already in the mix, Idaho may as well shoot its shot for the Bears, too.
